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June 2014
Since 1976, BYU has been the consistent recipient of ExxonMobil’s generous donations. Many of those donations were matching gifts, where donations made by company employees are matched three-to-one by the giant oil company.
Steve G. Forsyth, representing ExxonMobil Foundation, presented a check totaling $307,602 to BYU President Kevin J Worthen and to five college deans assembled in the president’s office on May 21.
It’s a reciprocal gesture of good, said President Worthen while accepting the check. He noted how donations improve the program, which produces better students, who make better employees, who then advance the company, which produces more funds for more scholarships.
“It builds on itself,” he said.
President Worthen also highlighted how the matching gift program of ExxonMobil is consistently the most expansive employer matching program benefitting BYU.
The ExxonMobil donation is designed to encourage scholarship across all colleges, but its focus is math and science education. “The ExxonMobil Foundation has a long history of supporting a range of efforts to improve the quality of education in the United States,” said Suzanne McCarron, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation.
The hope is to attract young people, as well as support programs that encourage women and minorities to become scientists and engineers, stated a press release.
“It’s a good fit,” said Steve Forsyth. “The quality and integrity of students here at BYU matches the quality and integrity of ExxonMobil.”
Forsyth noted how he came from a small city in Idaho and earned an undergraduate and law degree at BYU. “There is a lot of blue in our family,” he mused.
In brief comments, deans told how funds will be used in their colleges. Such uses include the preparation of math and science teachers in secondary schools, and the aiding of undergraduate students in graduate school-like research projects.
In total, ExxonMobil and its employees will donate $44 million among 866 universities in the U.S. as part of the ExxonMobil Foundation 2013 Matching Educational Gift Program.
Brent Adams, director of the BYU Center for Animation told members of the Jesse and Amanda Knight Society that BYU students are making a difference in the media industry. “[BYU students’] goodness and high moral standards defy stereotypes and ultimately contribute to their success,” he said.
If you attended BYU within the past 50 years you almost certainly enrolled in some humanities class. Through that class, and in many other ways since then, you are a participant in the broader human conversation. The College of Humanities is a nexus of giving, a place where we learn and grow through varied conversations. Thank you for your generosity in all its forms - for all you contribute to the ongoing human conversation.
Kari Durrant thrives on improving the quality of life for others.